Vented Container

ABSTRACT

A vented container consists of multiple zip locks and tiny channels formed between its lid and its base. The zip locks securely attach the lid to the base, while the channels allow steam inside of the container to escape freely but keep liquid from spilling out.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to disposable food containers used in Chinesetake-out restaurants, and, more particularly, relates to a containerthat prevents accidental spillage of the liquid inside while allowingsteam escaping relatively freely from the container.

Cooked foods generally contain solid substances, such as rice, meat andvegetable and liquid substances, such as oil, sauce and broth. Intake-out restaurants, a food container used to store and transport suchfoods generally consists of a base portion and a lid portion made from aresilient polymeric material. On one hand, the lid has to be securelyattached to the base to avoid accidental opening of the container and toprevent inside liquid from spilling out. On the other hand, in a closedenvironment, moisture generated and accumulated inside the containerwill quickly cause foods, especially vegetables, losing their originaltaste, texture and color. In order to prevent such thing from happening,people usually punch a hole through a container lid so that steam canescape from the inside of the container. However, the hole leaves apotential risk. In most case, a person buys a take-out food and willenjoy it later at another place. The irregular movement during carryoften causes the liquid to jiggle and splash within the container. Thejiggling and splashing can cause the liquid to spill out of thecontainer and taint everywhere inside of the bag holding the containerand other nearby items.

Many attempts have been made to provide a container and cover forpreventing the splashing and spilling of liquids; however, such attemptshave resulted in cups, containers, and covers that are expensive toproduce, difficult and cumbersome to use, and/or inadaptable to the needin this situation. An example of a container lid that attempts to solvethe splashing problem is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,052, issued Jul.26, 1983 to Hayes. The Hayes lid disclosed a lid having a vent path,which has an inlet above and an outlet below the level of the lid. Thepath is constructed so that, as it extends from inlet to outlet, ittraverses the lid from edge to axially opposing edge and back again.Although the Hayes lid solved the problem in his situation, it isinadaptable here since when the liquid flows into and blocks the pathsteam can no longer escape from the container, as Hayes described in hispatent. Same problem exists in U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,426, issued to Stern.When the filter in the Stern patent, which is formed of a hydrophobicmaterial and mounted over the vent hole, is tainted with liquids, itsventilating efficiency is greatly impaired. In addition, the cost ofmanufacturing such container in Stern is higher. U.S. Pat. No.7,055,712, issued to Tang, disclosed a container for hot carry-out foodincludes a container body and a cover, each having flanges and theflanges defining a pair of seals between which is a condensationcollecting chamber and radially outboard of an outermost seal is asecond condensation collecting chamber which is continuously vented toatmosphere through radial venting passages or channels. Under elevatedpressures, as might occur when hot food is packages in the container,the innermost seal opens permitting steam/gasses to vent into theinnermost condensation collection chamber in which the steam mightcondense as condensate. Under higher internal container pressures, theoutboard most seal may also open and vent gasses from the innermostcondensation chamber through/into the outermost condensation collectionchamber and continuously from the latter to atmosphere through aplurality of continuously open circumferential spaced radial ventingpassages or channels. Although a clever design, there are two problemsin Tang's—(1) moisture can still be accumulated inside the container,and (2) the attachment between the lid and the base is not as secure asit should be.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide acontainer to prevent spilling of liquid from the container whileallowing steam to escape relatively freely from the container.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a lid that isrelatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the above-stated objects, the present inventionprovides a vented container that consists of a lid and a base. The basehas a planar bottom, base side walls extending vertically upward fromsaid bottom, a base flange extending horizontally outward from said baseside walls, an inverted, U-shaped base rim extending outward from saidbase flange, and multiple grooves of the same shape crossinghorizontally on the top surface of said base rim. The lid has a planartop, lid side walls extending vertically downward from said top, a lidflange extending horizontally outward from said lid side walls, aninverted, U-shaped lid rim extending outward from said lid flange,multiple ridges, of a shape matching said grooves, crossing horizontallyon the bottom surface of said lid rim, and a locking lip which extendsvertically downward from said lid rim surface. Upon mating, multiple ziplocks are formed between the lid rim and the base rim by grooves andridges, and multiple channels are formed between said grooves and thebottom surface of said lid rim. In the preferred embodiment, grooves andridges are arch-shaped, and the maximal diagonal of said channels is upto 1 millimeter, so that it prevents liquid from spilling out but allowssteam pass through freely.

It is preferable that base and lid are stackable on a second base andlid, respectively, in order to save storing space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The vented container of the present invention will be better understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art and others upon reading theensuing specification, when taken in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lid and the base of the presentinvention wherein the lid is separate from the base, showing arch-shapedgrooves and ridges;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the lid and the base mating together withremoval of a portion of lid showing relative position between the lidand the base;

FIG. 3 is a detailed side view of a portion of the lid and the basemating together, showing zip locks and tiny channels formed between thelid and the base;

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the mating edge between the lid andthe base taken along section line 3A-3A′ of FIG. 3, showing a zip lockformed between arch-shaped grooves and ridges;

FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the mating edge between the lid andthe base taken along section line 3B-3B′ of FIG. 3, showing a tinychannel formed between arch-shaped grooves and the bottom surface of thelid;

FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view of the mating edge between the lid andthe base taken along section line 3C-3C′ of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an alternative view of FIG. 4A, wherein the lid is separatefrom the base, showing an arch-shaped groove on the base rim and anarch-shaped ridge on the lid rim.

In the various figures of the drawings, like reference charactersdesignate like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1, it shows the perspective view of the lid and the base of thevented container, where the lid 10 is separate from the base 20. Thebase 20 has a substantially planar bottom 21, base side walls 22extending substantially vertically upward from the bottom 21, a baseflange 23 extending substantially horizontally outward from the baseside walls 22, an inverted U-shaped base rim 24 extending outward fromsaid base flange 23, and multiple grooves 25 crossing horizontally onthe top surface of said base rim 24. the lid 10 has a substantiallyplanar top 11, lid side walls 12 extending substantially verticallydownward from the top 11, a lid flange 13 extending substantiallyhorizontally outward from the lid side walls 12, an inverted U-shapedlid rim 14 extending outward from the lid flange 13, and multiple ridges15 crossing horizontally on the bottom surface of said lid rim 14. Ingeneral, the ridges 15 and the grooves 25 are same shape and are able tomate. The ridges 15 are fewer than the grooves 25. In the preferredembodiment, both ridges 15 and grooves 25 are arch-shaped and the numberof ridges 15 is half of that of grooves 25.

In FIG. 2, it is a side view of the lid and the base mating together. Aportion of the lid rim 14 is removed to show relative position betweenthe lid and the base. In the preferred embodiment where the number ofridges 15 is half of that of grooves 25, zip locks 31 are formed whereridges 15 mate with grooves 25 and channels 32 are formed where noridges are present against grooves. FIG. 3 is a detailed side viewshowing zip locks 31 and tiny channels 25 formed between the lid and thebase. In the preferred embodiment, the maximal diagonal of said channelsis less than 1 millimeter to prevent liquid from spilling out whileallow stream passing through freely.

FIG. 4A shows a cross-sectional view of the mating edge between the lidand the base taken along section line 3A-3A′ of FIG. 3, showing a ziplock formed between an arch-shaped groove 25 and a ridge 15. FIG. 4B isa cross-sectional view of the mating edge between the lid and the basetaken along section line 3B-3B′ of FIG. 3, showing a tiny channel formedbetween an arch-shaped groove 25 and the bottom surface of the lid. Theinlet 33 connects to the inside of the container through a gap 35between the lid rim and the base rim. The outlet 34 connects toatmosphere. Steam inside of the container can freely escape from theinlet 33 to the outlet 34. FIG. 4C shows a cross-sectional view of themating edge between the lid and the base taken along section line 3C-3C′of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4A-4C also show a locking lip 36, which extends vertically downwardfrom said lid rim 14 and further securely holds the lid onto the base.

FIG. 5 is an alternative view of FIG. 4A, where the lid is separate fromthe base, showing an arch-shaped groove on the base rim and anarch-shaped ridge on the lid rim. It is worth of noting that althoughthe lid and the base shown here are manufactured by compression molding,other molding methods including injection can be used to produce thepresent invention.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been discussed andillustrated, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in theart and others that changes can be made to the illustrated embodimentswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.For example, the grooves and the ridges could be of other geometricalshape. Also, the number of grooves and ridges could be in other ratio.Since such changes can be made to the illustrated embodiments whileremaining within the scope of the invention, the invention should bedefined solely with reference to the appended claims.

1. A food container comprising: (A) a base having (i) a substantiallyplanar bottom; (ii) base side walls extending substantially verticallyupward from said bottom; (iii) a base flange extending substantiallyhorizontally outward from said base side walls; (iv) an inverted,U-shaped base rim extending outward from said base flange, (v) multiplegrooves of the same shape crossing horizontally on the top surface ofsaid base rim; (B) a lid having (i) a substantially planar top; (ii) lidside walls extending substantially vertically downward from said top;(iii) a lid flange extending substantially horizontally outward fromsaid lid side walls; (iv) an inverted, U-shaped lid rim extendingoutward from said lid flange; (v) multiple ridges, of a shape matchingsaid grooves, crossing horizontally on the bottom surface of said lidrim, wherein the number of said ridges is fewer than that of saidgrooves; and (vi) a locking lip which extends vertically downward fromsaid lid rim surface, whereby upon said lid mating onto said base, ziplocks are formed by grooves and ridges, and channels are formed betweensaid grooves and the bottom surface of said lid rim.
 2. The containeraccording to claim 1, wherein said grooves and said ridges arearch-shaped.
 3. The container according to claim 2, wherein the maximaldiagonal of said channels is less than 1 millimeter.
 4. The containeraccording to claim 3, wherein at least a second base is stackable withinsaid base.
 5. The container according to claim 3, wherein at least asecond lid is stackable within said lid.